South Carolina 2009

Ava learned how to swim by herself with floaties!







The beautiful city of Charleston.







Boone Hall Plantation





Slaves made the bricks for Boone Hall Plantation and other structures around the Charleston area. There are some bricks that still show their fingerprints.


Fort Sumter






The best part...the beach! We would live there if we could!

Baby Gage Update

Well...Gage came home on Sunday and is doing great. He is the most perfect little guy I have ever seen....of course right after my kiddos :) Today was the first day that I got to see him in person because we left for Texas the day after he was born. It was good to get away for a couple of days but boy-oh-boy it was hard leaving with Sam and Gage in the hospital. Gage has done well since he was born...other than how little he is he has been just like a normal full-term baby. Sam had to get a blood transfusion on Thursday because she was so weak but after that I was told she perked right up and was just fine. I got to watch him get his first bath in the bath tub tonight while I was there...of course he hated it. Oh, I just love him so much already....I could go on and on but I won't. I just wanted you all to know he is doing great. I will try to post pictures soon but you know how that goes.

Continue to keep them in your prayers...it is a whole new world for Sam but she is going to do great.

One Little Miracle

My sister had her baby boy last night at about 8:40pm. Gage Dean was 5-6 weeks premature so we weren't expecting him this early at all....I just think he knew it was Ava's birthday and wanted to share this very special day with her :) I mean really, 365 days out of the year and he was born on the 24th...how awesome for me and my sister to have our children share a birthday.

He was 5 pounds 3.5 ounces and 19.25 inches long. Sam was in labor for 30 hours and she had an epidural for only about 4 of them. It was touch and go for a little bit. They were going to send her to Tulsa to deliver because he was going to be a preemie and our town is not equipped with the best equipment to deal with all of the issues he could of had. But she was not stable enough in her labor to transport. So they decided they would life flight him after he was born if necessary. Well...he was born and he was screaming when he came out. The pediatrician that examined him said he was doing far better then expected but he was having some trouble breathing. He was making a grunting noise and his chest x-ray came back with fluid on his lungs. So they said they would know within 1-2 hours if he would need to go to Tulsa. Well...I never got a call in the middle of the night so I am assuming all is okay for now.

These pictures are from outside the nursery window. They would not let anyone but mom and dad come in contact with him. Which by they way, mom and dad are doing great, just anxious to hold their baby boy.

Here is our sweet precious baby...

Summer at last!

I am so glad summer is here. I am so ready to spend some quality time with my kiddos and get some stuff done around the house. I will be off June and July from school but I am working a few days here and there in a private office.

I have a new found respect for teachers of all ages. I teach on the college level, which I am sure is much different than elementary or high-school but I would have to argue that it is just as challenging. There were a few times that I was doubting my decision to go down this career path and I was seriously considering going back to private practice. But I stuck with it, Jerome and I survived, and my kids made it through the school year. It is very rewarding to know that if you do your job right and to the best of your ability that you are shaping people's futures for the better. But almost as much as it is rewarding; it is hard. Several of my students are older than me and that has its own set of challenges on top of everything else. There are just so many different obstacles to overcome, I almost can't put it into words. Oh, and I should say, that I am not teaching English so if my punctuation and spelling is wrong...sorry.

But now I have 2 months to rest and relax and be a mom and a wife. I just hope I take full advantage of this time and don't let the temper tantrums of a 2-year-old get to me so much that I wish I was back at work :)On top of my 2-year-old, who limits our outings because she has her own ideas of what we should do when we get to our destination, I have a 9-year-old to keep entertained this summer. I'm sure we will go to the pool some and he will go to friends and grandparents to hang out. But I hope I am able to connect with him and grow our relationship too. So I am trying to think and schedule some things that will be fun for him but bring us closer too. I'm planning on potty training Ava. I will have to let you know how that goes. Other than that I just want to get her on a better schedule and eating healthier, good luck right.

We have a few trips planned. The boys are going to Lake Texhoma on father's day to go fishing and then 3 days after they get back we are going to Texas to see Mimi & PawPaw for a few days. I'm not sure exactly what we will do but it will be nice to just get away. Ava is not a good traveler so we are praying she will do okay. This will be a good test run for our big trip in July. In July we are going to South Carolina. My dad lives there so we are staying near him this time but we will still spend most of our time at the beach. We will be gone for a whole week for this trip...oh I can't wait. We will return just in time for my nephew to be born. Little Gage...I hope I am as much help to my sister as she is to me.

Of course I will be working on course work off and on this summer. I hope this will ease alot of my stress during this next semester. But I won't be doing too much here at home, probably just during nap time or if the kids go to their grandparent's house.

Jerome is working all summer. He will get the few days off when we go to Texas and South Carolina but other than that he will be at the gym. I'm sure he would love to be home with us but we are thankful he has a job :)

Well...I hope you all have an awesome summer. I will try to do better about keeping you posted on us...

The Longacre Pool is Open for Business

We set up our poor excuse for a pool for the summer. It took all of 10 minutes. Brennan was so excited about setting it up until we got it out and all of a sudden it seemed so much smaller than it did last year. Brennan has only grown probably a foot since last summer. And to top it all off we couldn't even fill it up to the top because Ava was already going under the water in the small amount that is in there now. The fun lasted for about 15 minutes and then they were both cold and got out. Oh well...maybe someday we will move up in the world, until then we will just have to make due :)






It didn't take long for the meltdown to start because she was cold.

Easter 2009

I think Brennan had more fun throwing the "real" eggs at his dad to see if he could get one to break and go all over him.



Ava is such a sweet girl, sharing with her bubba.


Brennan was such a trooper. He helped Ava find her eggs, he is getting too old to think hunting eggs is fun.

Spring Plans

We are so looking forward to warm weather. Brennan will be playing baseball and of course Rome will be helping with coaching. For the rest of us our lives will revolve around his games and practices but we love to watch him play. And there is nothing like a nice spring evening sitting in your lawn chair watching him play. Ava is big enough this year that hopefully she will listen a little better and stay close enough to me that I can watch some of the game instead of chasing her around the ball park.

I will be wrapping up my time at work and hopefully be home for the summer by June 1st. I am so looking forward to spending this summer with my kids. Ava is semi-potty training so we might try to tackle that a little harder and I'm going to have to figure something out to entertain Brennan while Jerome is at work all day. He doesn't find me near as fun as dad. We will be taking a vacation to see family and spending some much needed quality time together as a family.

That is all of the plans so far but I'm sure other things will pop up :)

Our Gigi

Most of you know that we have a great dane. We have had her for about a year now so I thought I would just show you all some pictures of her.

Oklahoma Weather

Well, it is spring in Oklahoma but who could tell from these pictures? It is crazy but for those of us who have lived our entire lives here it is nothing new :)

The Fruits of Rome's Labor

Jerome gave me a huge surprise when I came home from Phoenix from a business trip. We have been planning on tiling our house for some time now. Our hot water heater valve broke a few months ago and ruined a good bit of our carpet so we ripped it up and purchased some tile to replace it. Before I left we discussed that the plan would be to start the project when I returned home. Well...little did I know Jerome had been planning this surprise for months. He had my aunt, uncle, grandma, and a friend help him tile almost our entire house in 3 days. He also cleaned, put furniture back where it was supposed to be, started laundry, and contacted a few of my friends to get some goodies for me and help him clean and what not. My sister was a huge help with the kids while he was up to all of this. He picked me up from the airport all dressed up which was a little out of the ordinary because after 10 years we rarely dress up for each other. I should also mention that we hadn't seen each other for a week. He had left the week before with Brennan on Wednesday to go to the Big XII basketball tournament. I left on Saturday morning and he got home on Saturday night. And then I did not return home until Tuesday night. So I thought the long absence might have sparked the nice attire :) On the ride home he was a little uneasy it seemed, he was shifting in his seat and clearing his throat quite a bit. When we pulled into the driveway he didn't park in the garage and then he handed me the keys to unlock the door. When I opened it I saw our beautiful tile. I am so blessed to have him!!

Before pictures prior to purchase of the house (sorry they are a little dark):






After pictures: